This past winter after committing to ‘my mission’!, I started dreaming up specific projects focused on re-enchantment. My book was—and still is—at the top of my list (how to tweek it to move more firmly in that direction. I now ‘know’ that I’ll know what needs to happen with it.) Mountainflim, the Telluride festival held Memorial Day, was on my list. I was invited last year to talk about my recent book, “Mary Jane Wild” (Homebound, 2021), but I had a conflict and couldn’t go. “Next year,” the organizers said. This year, I was invited to participate on a panel at 8 a.m. on Sunday morning. Joining me would be @JedidiahJenkins, a young, exciting and best-selling writer, along with someone soon to be named. I figured that besides the panelists, there might be oh, four people there at that early hour, for the free coffee. Fine, I thought, remembering that this is no longer about me, but re-enchantment. Which was the subject I’d proposed to talk about. Jedidiah and I communicated about getting together ahead of time, but we couldn’t make it happen. We decided just to wing it. “I’m excited to talk about re-enchantment,” he said. ‘Re-enchantment’ was not just what I’d be talking about, but had somehow become the main point of the panel. When Jedidiah and I met Sunday morning, I felt an immediate connection. James Balog, the brilliant photographer who’d made the memorable climate film, Chasing Ice, was the third panelist. Soon, the room overflowed with people. The three of us talked about re-enchantment for an hour. Then people asked questions and told stories about re-enchantment. When it ended people stood around to talk more about re-enchantment. The entire experience was one of re-enchantment—proof. While Jedidiah’s presence was largely responsible for the large crowd, a hundred people went away wondering about their own re-enchantmented lives in ways they hadn’t before. Which, I realized is ‘my mission’. I couldn’t have planned this. But I didn’t need to. It’s out of my hands.
(This ragged Swallowtail perches on a Mimosa Tree at Erik and Darin’s place across the field.)
